Studies have shown that investments in the area of education and child care are reimbursed at least seven times over the life of a child. Poverty in Ontario amounts to $7 billion per year spent on health care costs and leads to half a billion dollars being spent on the criminal justice system. I do not know exactly how long it would take to have an investment paid back, but I believe that in several cases it can happen quite quickly.
In Quebec investing in child care allows a greater number of women to work, essentially reimbursing in large part the costs of the program. I do not know the exact figures, but I believe it's one-third of costs.